Want in on the action? Here are our top 5 tips to send Valentine’s Day emails your audience will love.
Tips to send lovable Valentine’s Day email campaigns
Craft the perfect Valentine’s Day email subject line
Be specific in your subject lines and use words that clearly convey what your email contains. Subscribers prefer opening emails that are most relevant to them.
For your Valentine’s Day emails, be sure to mention that you’re sending them a message that relates to the holiday. Whether you’re a restaurant owner and want to remind subscribers to make a reservation, or you’re a baker hoping to encourage people to buy sweet treats for a loved one, be sure to tie it to the holiday:
“Time’s Almost Up! Make Your Valentine’s Day Dinner Reservation at Cibo Ristorante Now”
“Need Chocolate? Pick Up A Sweet Treat For Your Valentine at Joe’s Bakery!
Offer something thoughtful for the holiday
Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love — and self-love. Can you offer something unique and special that stands out? How can you add a special twist to the traditional Valentine’s Day gift giving?
And don’t forget about those who may be celebrating Valentine’s Day alone. That’s why I love this email from Papersource, which focused on self-love this time of year.
Send a personalized follow up email to those who purchased — and those who did not
Send some extra love to those who purchased from you. You can send a tailored email with related products or services that they may be interested in based on their purchase. Or, send them a ‘thank you’ gift with a gift card or discount on their next purchase.
Using segmentation, you can also find out who did not open your Valentine’s Day email. Entice them with a reminder that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and include an offer they can’t refuse in the subject line.
Make your Valentine's Day emails eye-catching
Beautifully designed emails tend to pop in the inbox. Add some Valentine’s Day flair to your messages to stand out and visually indicate to your readers that this is an exclusive, seasonal offer.
Colors like pinks, purples, and reds are natural choices for Valentine’s Day. Readers will immediately know you’re presenting them with a unique, seasonal offer.
Or, use eye-catching GIFs (like the one below). Adding some movement to your emails is a great way to draw your reader in.
Remind your subscribers that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner by including the date (February 14) in your subject line. For your subscribers who let the holiday creep up on them, they might be encouraged to see how you can quickly help them out.
Five Below sent an email with the subject line “ok but v-day is LITERALLY tomorrow,” successfully creating a sense of urgency for folks to get their shopping in sooner rather than later.
Unique Valentine’s Day email examples
If you sell products or services that fit in well with the holiday naturally — fantastic. You do you!
But so many companies aren’t necessarily selling products or services that fit in with the vibe of Valentine’s Day. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you’re not out of luck. Check out how these brands stood out with unique takes on the traditional holiday email.
To draw customers into their retail stores on Valentine’s Day, glasses retailer Warby Parker compiled funny tweets from customers, joking it’s the perfect place to find romance. I don’t know if it worked, but it definitely made me laugh.
Handy, a house cleaning and handyman services provider, reminded subscribers their homes need some love, too. I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually think of home cleaning as a traditional Valentine’s Day offer — but they presented it in a way that fit in with the holiday perfectly.
Bloomscape, a home plant ecommerce company, took a unique approach on a more traditional Valentine’s Day gift. Instead of roses, Bloomscape pointed out that houseplants make a great gift.
Your own Valentine’s Day email templates
Inspired to create your own Valentine’s Day email campaign? Check out the professionally designed templates by AWeber below.
After five years of downward movement, GameStop (GME) shares skyrocketed this week—going from a closing price of $4.28 per share on January 27, 2020 to $345 on January 27, 2021, one year later. This morning, shares reached $490 in pre-market trading.
So what sparked this more than 7,200% increase in GME—and a 689% run just this past week?
In a word, Reddit. What started with a thread on r/WallStreetBets, a community where more than 3.1 million subscribers discuss aggressive trading strategies, drove such a significant increase that trading of GME was halted several times. President and CEO of Nasdaq, Adena Friedman, stated on Wednesday that the exchange would potentially halt the stock if it detected unusual trading activity that matched conversations on social media.
"We definitely have seen a significant increase in retail participation in the market throughout the year," says @adenatfriedman. "We do have technology that evaluates social media chatter…and match that up against unusual trading activity–we will potentially halt that stock." pic.twitter.com/UWvg53YFI6
But while the conversation began on Reddit, it didn’t stay there for long. Using Sprout Social’s Advanced Listening, we tracked the rise of conversation about GME on social over the past week and analyzed it alongside price fluctuations in the stock to identify themes in the social chatter.
Read on to understand how social media influenced this extreme volatility and how social listening can help financial institutions and corporate issuers gain visibility into real time analysis.
Tracking the trend: How the GameStop run unfolded
As reported by Alex Kirshner at Slate, a Reddit user in the r/WallStreetBets community published a post in September 2020 with the title, “Bankrupting Institutional Investors for Dummies, ft. GameStop.” Kirshner writes:
The subredditor noted the stock already had a significant short exposure (months before Cohen joined the board) and predicted that short sellers would be forced to abandon their positions and, in buying back their stock, drive the price up. R/WallStreetBets users delighted in the idea and took it as a chance to egg one another on.
This post would mark a nearly 20-year bottoming process in shares of GME, at this point still trading below $10. This week, shares rose above $372 and trading was halted multiple times.
Social conversation around GameStop and r/WallStreetBets began to heat up over the past week. From January 20 through January 27, there were more than 82,000 Reddit mentions of “GME” on Google, and Sprout Social Advanced Listening captured more than 1,582,000 Tweets and 1,465 YouTube videos about GameStop. During the same time period, the conversation on Twitter and YouTube alone had a potential reach of nearly 10 billion impressions, and in total, has generated nearly 12.8 million social engagements (likes, comments and shares).
To put that growth in context, comparing the conversation on Twitter and YouTube from January 20–27 to the prior week, we see a:
2,805% increase in topic volume
3,041% increase in potential reach
4,521% increase in social engagements
So how has social conversation volume correlated with price fluctuations of GME? Nearly perfectly. As chat volume across social channels spiked higher over the past week, so has the stock. The growing volume of engagement on social and social listening insight into the context of what was being said could have alerted market participants to pay closer attention.
Common topics in the Twitter and YouTube conversation about GameStop (GME) between January 20 and January 27, 2021 included:
Reddit: Unsurprisingly, Reddit was one of the top keywords in the conversation, mentioned and hashtagged more than 128,425 times; “Reddit users” was mentioned more than 70,800 times. The hashtags #WallStreetBets and #WSB, both referring to the community where the GME conversation started, were used 30,944 and 18,871 times respectively. Overall, Twitter and YouTube conversations about GameStop using #WallStreetBets or #WSB grew 22,674% from January 20–27 compared to the week prior.
Congress: On Twitter, Congress was mentioned more than 50,200 times as users speculated about how quickly Congress would pass new legislation regulating the stock and compared that to the delay in passing $2,000 stimulus checks.
People: The word “people ” came up in more than 190,400 Tweets, as the story told in the media and on social focused on the power that retail investors can wield on a system that favors the rich. Many messages, including one from Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price, stated that the GME and related short squeezes happening now are simply real people doing what financial institutions have always done.
Hedge funds: Mentioned more than 76,400 times, hedge funds were positioned as the Goliath to Reddit users’ David, and the conversation focused on hedge funds’ forced retreat following heavy losses. Many users in the thread have taken delight in the financial pain inflicted on hedge funds.
Other stocks caught the wave and began to see a similar uptick, including AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), Express (EXPR) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). Within the conversation about GameStop on Twitter between January 20–27, 2021:
AMC was mentioned in more than 233,000 of the messages discussing GameStop, and the hashtag #SaveAMC was used in 4,834 messages.
EXPR was mentioned in more than 12,280 of the messages discussing GameStop.
BBBY was mentioned in more than 15,860 of the messages discussing GameStop.
As of this writing, GME shares opened at $265 on January 28, and we’re seeing more than 751,300 Twitter and YouTube mentions of GameStop so far this morning as the conversation continues.
What we can learn from GME and social listening
While a Bloomberg terminal, trailing financials and a precise understanding of business fundamentals can help forecast where a company is going, the volatility we’ve seen with GME, AMC and other stocks show that social media can disrupt market models in a moment.
If there was any question about whether social media could move markets, 2020 solidified the answer. Tweets from President Trump often drove fluctuations in the market, as tracked by Bloomberg before his ban from Twitter, and a Tweet from tech billionaire Elon Musk—the SEC’s Twitter persona non grata—drove the messaging app Signal to the No. 1 spot in Apple’s app store.
But 2020 also demonstrated that the COVID-19 pandemic had very different effects on Wall Street vs. the average American consumer, as markets rose while unemployment disproportionately affected low-wage workers. This climate ignited the fire of social media communities like r/WallStreetBets, where posts about GME have fueled the narrative that hedge funds were the monetary losers on the wrong side of the trade.
There’s no greater source of real-time consumer conversations than social data. As social media communities mobilize to radically impact market behavior in ways not previously seen, there’s also a new source of market influence. Consumers can’t—and won’t—be ignored, and they’ve proven that social media is where they’ll mobilize. Couple that with the large social media followings of industry influencers like prominent VC, Chamath Palihapitiya, and you have a recipe for rapid market volatility.
As we saw in Friedman’s statement earlier, companies like Nasdaq use social media conversations to understand and investigate trends in the market. Analysts who require the ability to forecast business financials with precision—and change that forecast on a dime as the world around them changes—can use social listening tools that offer an investment edge. This begins with competitive analysis, market trends and demand planning.
But in the midst of unprecedented volatility, advanced social listening has become a necessary tool to optimize the risk/reward calculation that sits at the center of most investment decisions on Wall Street. Knowing what is being said about companies on social media, before this is reflected in share price volatility, is essential to reducing portfolio risk.
For corporate issuers, executives and Board members, staying on top of social data is now table stakes in this new environment.
Advanced Social Listening can help do more than forecast. It can also enable users to:
Track investor perception and sentiment to monitor risk and enable rapid adjustment to negative trends or reputational crises
Understand consumer perception and perform due diligence outside of normal channels
Offer insight into unique elements of a market that can help predict fundamental and stock price performance
Monitor competitor news, movement and sentiment and know when to act
Identify financial influencers and market movers to watch
If your company wants to bring comprehensive social intelligence into your forecasting toolkit, schedule a free, customized demo with one of our team members today.
The Facebook Oversight Board has overturned the social network‘s decisions in four of the first five cases that it’s ruled on. The cases collectively covered Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. All the rulings will be binding. Facebook’ “supreme court” provided summaries of the five decisions: Overturned: the removal of a post commenting on the supposed lack of reaction to the treatment of Uighur Muslims in China compared to the violent response. Overturned: the removal of a post that included photos of breast cancer symptoms, some of which showed uncovered female nipples. Overturned: the removal of a post that…
During Facebook‘s quarterly earnings call today, Mark Zuckerberg highlighted some major changes coming to Facebook. After years of being the primary news source for many people, Facebook has decided it wants to show less political content. According to Zuckerberg, “there has been a trend across society that a lot of things have become politicized and politics have had a way of creeping into everything.” He noted “one of the top pieces of feedback” that Facebook is hearing is that “people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience.” To mitigate so the company is looking to reduce the amount of…
Building a must-see YouTube channel starts with understanding your audience.
And there’s no better place to gather actionable insights than your YouTube Analytics.
Want to know which of your videos are binge-worthy? Curious where the bulk of your viewers are coming from?
Well, the answers are just a few clicks away.
But while YouTube’s native analytics platform is a treasure trove of data, its depth can be overwhelming for total beginners.
That’s why we put together this guide breaking down the core pillars of YouTube Analytics, including:
General Reports
Watch Time and Audience Reports
Engagement Reports
Earnings Reports
Why measuring your YouTube Analytics is so important
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we need to drive home just how important your analytics are.
Because YouTube’s algorithm (like most social algorithms) is unpredictable. Competition is absolutely fierce on the platform as well.
Anything you can do to optimize your channel performance is a plus. Through your YouTube Analytics, you can zero in on:
Top-performing videos in terms of views, watch time and audience and engagement
Content themes relevant to your target audience (think: how-tos, tutorials, vlogs, webinars)
How video details like thumbnails, titles and video length impact your video performance
In short, YouTube Analytics can provide a detailed roadmap to guide your video marketing strategy.
YouTube Analytics: General Reports
If you’re trying view YouTube Analytics for the first time, simply visit the YouTube Analytics page directly.
Alternatively, you can click on the “Analytics” tab in YouTube Studio.
Again, don’t let the platform intimidate you! To kick things off, we’ll break down the basics.
The Overview Report
This report is a high-level summary of your videos’ most recent performance. Think of it as YouTube’s version of the Google Analytics homepage.
Easy to understand at a glance, the Overview Report tells whether or not your numbers are up. Looking at engagement metrics such as watch time and views, you have a simplified snapshot of your overall performance.
This is a great “just the facts” report when you don’t have time to take a deep dive into your YouTube channel analytics.
The Realtime Report
No surprises here. This report shows you an estimate of view count data for your most recent videos, including people-watching in real-time. If you’re pushing out video content on a frequent basis, this report can let you know if any new videos are experiencing a spike in engagement.
The Realtime Report displays two graphs: one hour-by-hour and the other minute-by-minute. Both graphs refer to viewers’ local time zones.
YouTube Analytics: Watch Time and Audience Reports
Because if viewers are eating up your content with high watch times and retention rates, you know you’re on the right track. Although these metrics aren’t the end-all, be-all of your YouTube Analytics, they’re vital for fine-tuning your video strategy.
The Watch Time Report
This report aggregates data from all view sources to create a comprehensive breakdown of viewer retention. These sources include the YouTube homepage, the platform’s embedded player and the mobile YouTube app. You can also compare watch time data for individual videos.
Some noteworthy watch time metrics include:
Average View Percentage: The average percentage of a video watched during playback.
Average View Duration: The average length, in seconds, of video playback.
Estimated Minutes Watched: The number of minutes users watched videos for the specified channel, video or playlist.
Uniques: The number of unique viewers that watched a video. This is calculated based on the number of unique cookies and will over-count users who are using multiple devices or browsers.
Viewer Percentage: The percentage of viewers who were logged in while watching the video or playlist.
Views: The number of legitimate views for your channels or videos.
Watch Time: The amount of time that a viewer has watched a video.
The Audience Retention Report
This report helps you understand whether or not your viewers are sticking to your videos.
Based on these metrics and percentages, you can start to look for common threads among your top-performing content. On the flip side, you might spot a correlation between videos with lower retention.
Beyond big-picture trends, the absolute audience retention curve lets you see which parts of the video are most popular. YouTube recommends paying close attention to the first 15 seconds of every video given that’s when most viewers will drop off. You can also use relative audience retention to see how your video compares to YouTube videos of similar length.
Retention further breaks down by organic traffic, traffic for paid skippable video ads and traffic for paid display ads. Some noteworthy metrics for the report include:
Organic Traffic: Video views that are the direct result of user intention. Traffic is considered organic if a viewer takes an action like searching for a video, clicking on a suggested video or browsing a channel.
Skippable Video Ad: Views for ads that are auto-played before a video and are skippable after five seconds.
Display Ads: Views in which the user played the video from a display ad, including ads shown in search results or on other video watch pages.
Retention metrics provide actionable insights on what you can do to improve your YouTube videos.
Perhaps your videos lack that initial “punch” in the first few seconds. Maybe you start off strong and lose viewers halfway. These details are exactly why regularly checking your YouTube Analytics is a must-do.
The Playback Locations Report
This report is interesting if you work with collaborators or partners. Here you can see where your videos are being played, either natively on YouTube or embedded elsewhere.
For instance, you can see how many views are generated through embedded videos on other websites and on YouTube directly. If it was viewed on YouTube, you can determine whether it was viewed from the video’s specific page or directly on a channel’s page.
Simply put, playback reporting highlights where users are viewing your videos while the traffic sources are how people find your content. The noteworthy metrics of this report include:
YouTube Watch Page: The video was watched on YouTube from the video’s specific page. It’s the exact URL where you can watch the video on YouTube.
YouTube Channel Page: These are views directly on a channel page (ex: youtube.com/user/SproutSocial).
YouTube Other: Certain browsers don’t let YouTube detect where on the platform the video was viewed. Most likely these views occurred on the YouTube watch page.
Embedded in External Websites and Apps: How often viewers watched your video when embedded on another website or app that embeds your videos (see example below).
To clarify, the YouTube Watch Page just refers to the URL where a video was viewed (on YouTube versus embedded on a website, for example).
The Traffic Sources Report
Another key report to keep an eye on is the Traffic Sources Report. It shows the sites and YouTube features that viewers used to find your content.
Understanding whether viewers are searching directly on YouTube, clicking Suggested Videos thumbnails or following links from social networks lets you know if your optimization and promotion strategies are paying off.
The traffic sources highlighted in this report include:
YouTube search
Suggested videos
Browse features
Playlists
YouTube channels
YouTube advertising
Video cards and annotations
Notifications
Other YouTube features
External sources
Direct or unknown sources
The Devices Report
Last but not least, you’ll want to add the devices report to your list of regularly pulled reports. This report gives you information on the different devices—including PCs, mobile, tablet, game consoles and TVs—and operating systems that viewers use to watch your videos.
This data can better inform both your advertising and outreach strategies. Likewise, it also influences the type of content you’re sharing. If a majority of your views are from mobile devices, you may want to swap those 20-minute tutorials you’re creating for shorter, bite-sized content.
Analyzing “where,” “when” and “how” people are tuning in speak to the importance of a tool like Sprout Social. For example, our YouTube publishing features allow you to optimize your content and post timing based on audience engagement. Also, you can easily cross-post your video content from social to YouTube and vice-versa.
YouTube Analytics: Engagement Reports
Of course, views aren’t everything when it comes to video performance. YouTube video analytics can be split into various reporting metrics include:
Likes
Dislikes
Comments
Subscriptions
Sharing
These metrics are prioritized based on the types of content you’re creating.
For example, a tutorial video might be used as a customer support tool where back-and-forth comments are encouraged. Meanwhile, a video published primarily for entertainment purposes will look to rack up likes and shares.
The Subscribers Report
Hey, we’re all obsessed with our follower counts, right? This report is YouTube’s equivalent, outlining how you’ve gained and lost subscribers across different pieces of content, locations and dates.
In short, this report quite literally tells you which content is scoring subscribers and where they’re coming from. You can also see where you lost subscribers as well.
The Likes & Dislikes Report
This report is fairly self-explanatory but it’s worth highlighting. It shows the net change of likes and dislikes in your videos. It adds up the number of likes and dislikes minus the number of likes and dislikes removed.
Your approach to engagement on YouTube should be a holistic one: if you’re not getting a high number of likes, don’t freak out. After all, viewers might be sharing or commenting more than they’re liking.
However, you should be concerned if your videos start netting dislikes out of the blue. Occasional dislikes from trolls and potential competitors might happen, but if you aren’t baiting people you shouldn’t expect a flood of hate for no reason.
The Videos in Playlists Report
This report shows you how many times your videos were added to or removed from viewers’ playlists. This includes default playlists, like “Watch Later” or “Favorites,” as well as any custom playlist.
Knowing which playlists your videos are included in is a nice added bonus. For example, if you notice that your long-form tutorial videos are frequently being queued up by others, perhaps it’s time to create even more.
Some noteworthy metrics in this report include:
Average Time in Playlist: The estimated average amount of time, in minutes, that a user viewed videos in a playlist after the playlist was initiated. This only includes playlist views that occur on the web.
Playlists Starts: The number of times that viewers initiated playback of a playlist. This only includes playlist views that occur on the web.
Videos Added to Playlists: The number of times videos were added to any YouTube playlists, including the video owner’s playlists or other channels’ playlists.
Videos Removed From Playlists: The number of times videos were removed from any YouTube playlists.
Views Per Playlist Start: The average number of video views that occurred each time a playlist was initiated. This only includes playlist views that occur on the web.
The Comments Report
This report summarizes how many people comment on your video.
Just like social comments, the YouTube comment section represents a place to go back-and-forth with your audience. It’s also somewhere to gain unfiltered insight into how people feel about your content.
If people are showing you love in the comment section, make sure you respond accordingly. Response time is critical, especially for customer support and tutorial videos.
The Sharing Report
This report shows how many times your content has been shared through the “Share” button on YouTube. as well as other sites like Facebook or Twitter.
Sharing is obviously a key component of promotion, especially if you’re publishing content such as product-centric videos or breaking news. If you’re actively scheduling and promoting your YouTube content across your social channels, this report is definitely one to watch.
The Cards Report
Despite popular belief, videos don’t need to be a totally passive experience for viewers.
Serving as an alternative to now-discontinued Annotations, marketers can make their YouTube videos more interactive through the use of Cards. Depending on the Card type, you can add in either an image, title or call-to-action.
This report shows you how viewers are interacting with cards on your videos across desktop, mobile and tablets. Notable metrics for this report include:
Clicks: The number of times that cards were clicked.
Click Rate: The clickthrough rate for cards, which is calculated as the ratio of card clicks to card impressions.
Impressions: The number of times cards were displayed. When the card panel is opened, a card impression is logged for each of the video’s cards.
Teaser Click Rate: The clickthrough rate for card teasers, which is calculated as the ratio of clicks on card teasers to the total number of card teaser impressions.
Teaser Clicks: The number of clicks on card teasers. Card icon clicks are attributed to the last teaser displayed to the user.
Teaser Impressions: The number of times that card teasers were displayed. A video view can generate multiple teaser impressions.
YouTube Analytics: Earnings Reports
YouTube has seen its fair share of “Adpocalypses” over the years. That said, businesses posting relevant, ad-friendly content should obviously keep an eye on their earnings.
If you’re a YouTube Partner with an associated AdSense account, you’ll have access to a couple of additional reports on how much you’re bringing in.
The Estimated Earnings Report
This report details earnings related to partner content, transactions, YouTube Red and ads. Some noteworthy metrics within the report include:
Ad Earnings: The total estimated earnings (net revenue) from all Google-sold advertising sources for the selected date range and region.
Earnings: The total estimated earnings (net revenue) from all Google-sold advertising sources as well as from non-advertising sources for the selected date range and region.
Red Partner Revenue: The total estimated revenue earned from YouTube Red subscriptions for the selected report dimensions. It reflects earnings from both music and non-music content.
YouTube notes that estimated revenue in YouTube Analytics may not be identical to finalized payments due to final adjustments during the payout period.
The Ad Rates Report
This report determines how different ad types perform over time compared to one another. A few noteworthy metrics within the report include:
Ad Type: The format of the ad in question and its buying platform.
Ad Impressions: The number of verified ad impressions served.
Monetized Playbacks: The number of instances when a viewer plays your video and sees at least one ad impression. A monetized playback is counted if a viewer is shown a pre-roll ad but quits watching the ad before your video ever starts.
Playback-based CPM: The estimated gross revenue per thousand playbacks.
Are You Using YouTube Analytics to Grow Your Channel?
We get it: there’s a lot to take in!
But analyzing your channel’s numbers is crucial not only for improving your current content but figuring out what to create in the future.
Beyond YouTube itself, also consider how tools like Sprout Social can help you step up your video strategy.
From cross-publishing and asset management and beyond, our platform allows you to seamlessly combine your YouTube strategy with your social campaigns.
So if you haven’t already, take a test-drive of Sprout Social today to see our full suite of social features in action!
Every February, brands suddenly find they have something to say (or sell) on social media regarding Black History Month.
But following a year of racial justice protests and more companies than ever taking a stand on social and political issues, brands are under pressure to get Black History Month 2021 right. It’s become common for brands to participate in Black History Month, but these efforts are often perceived as little more than performative activism.
Kinda not looking forward to black history month for the simple fact we're about to get bombarded with more performative activism for 28 days then back to the regularly scheduled program
Brands need to consider how they’re championing Black people, culture and achievements 365 days a year—not just for 28 days. Black History Month 2021 follows a year of brands voicing their support for Black Lives Matter and advocating for positive change in the wake of George Floyd’s death. This year, you can guarantee consumers will be watching to see if those same brands that spoke up are staying true to their word or if they’ve already moved on.
Recognizing Black History Month means brands need to go beyond marketing messages that preach solidarity but offer little action. If brands are serious about celebrating the Black community, that commitment needs to extend into all aspects of the business and become part of the fabric of a brand’s culture.
First things first: What is the purpose of Black History Month?
Black History Month celebrates Black Americans’ contributions to society and raises awareness of Black American history. It began when Carter G. Woodson, an American historian, grew frustrated with the underrepresentation of Black people in conversations that shaped American history.
Every year, a theme is applied to focus the public’s attention, with this year’s theme centering around “The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity”. Black History Month takes place during the month of February in the U.S. and Canada, and is recognized throughout October in the United Kingdom.
Recognize Black history 365 days a year
While they might start off with the best of intentions, brands need to consider the impact of their celebrations and recognize Black history doesn’t end when March 1 rolls around.
Take a moment to recognize your brand’s role in the conversation, question who benefits from your Black History Month ideas and consider how those ideas can become staples in your brand’s culture. Kristen Rice, a Senior Data Analyst and Black@Sprout lead, reminds brands that Black history is still being made today.
“For brands looking to celebrate Black History Month, that starts with understanding that this is more than a month,” says Rice. “Black history is not just a thing of the past, as we often treat it, but that history is now happening really within the organizations that we all work for. While we celebrate Black History as a month, brands need to continue on the journey of building a diverse, equitable and inclusive system that they promised and celebrate Black people always.”
Black History Month is not an opportunity to commercialize Black history-themed items or to appropriate Black culture for clout. There’s a fine line separating appreciation and appropriation, and companies that cross that line risk backlash from the very communities they seek to uplift.
This is the Black community’s time to shine
To avoid being labelled disingenuous or opportunistic during Black History Month 2021, brands need to prioritize Black people and their stories in everything they do. Cassandra Blackburn, the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Sprout Social, encourages brands to keep the mission of Black History Month the focus of their strategies.
“As brands make plans to celebrate diverse communities through Black History Month and others, it’s important that they approach their campaigns with authenticity, empathy and cultural intelligence,” says Blackburn. “Center your campaign on advancing the mission and purpose of the celebration by seizing the opportunity to honor the accomplishments of Black Americans.”
Blackburn points to Target as one brand she admires for their work in celebrating Black History Month. “Through their partnership with the African American Business Council, an employee resource group, [Target] developed a campaign called Black Beyond Measure which amplifies success stories and celebrates Blackness. The campaign showcases products from Black-owned businesses (that are carried in their stores year-round), as well as Black entrepreneurs and Black Target team members.”
Centering Black stories starts with brands taking the time to meet their audience where they are and demonstrating they truly listen to the Black community. Keyaira Lock, a Twitter Next Brand Planner and co-chair of Blackbirds, Twitter’s employee resource group for African-Americans, has this advice to share with marketers thinking about their Black History Month strategies.
“In order to authentically connect and build trust, brands must continually identify natural opportunities to connect their brand purpose with moments the Black community cares about,” says Lock. “This level of understanding requires elevating a brand’s cultural intelligence by sincerely listening to Black stories and getting to know the nuances of their desires, dreams, fears and frustrations in order to find mutually beneficial ways to thoughtfully insert your brand.”
1/👋🏽🧵#BlackTwitter, we see you. We hear you. It’s happening: March 3 & 4, we’re hosting #BlackTwitterLive – an event to honor and celebrate the impact and influence of this incredible community. And we’re bringing it right to your TL w/ conversations broadcast from @TwitterLive.
And while there is no gold standard for brands celebrating Black History Month, Lock sees this as an opportunity for brands to grow and set themselves up for future success. “One [action is] looking inside-out to introspectively think about what [brands] can do internally and externally to support the Black community. Thus, internal work truly allows brands to authentically shine in any cultural opportunity because it’s true to their brand purpose and who they really are.”
If brands are going to speak, they need to be prepared to act
Accountability typically follows a statement of solidarity, and brands need to be ready to show how they are backing their words up with visible action. Ty Heath, Director of the B2B Institute at LinkedIn, warns consumers are quick to call out brands that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
“Saying your brand will do better without action won’t stand up to scrutiny,” says Heath. “While many brands have shown support for social justice issues, building trust requires sustained investment—not only during Black History Month.”
She points to Ben & Jerry’s as one brand that has figured out how to be authentic with their activism. “Ben & Jerry’s has made speaking out against social justice issues part of its DNA. The journey starts with an internal conversation about uncomfortable topics we often avoid. To support your growth, incorporate diverse voices and core values into the fabric of your company’s brand and culture.”
To achieve justice, we don’t need just thoughts and prayers — we need education and action. The below thread offers some ways to learn about our country’s history, its impact on the present, and the underlying conditions that led to the murder of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/GYUcvb4w0N
Not only do brands like Ben & Jerry’s follow through on their promises; they also take big, bold stands that strive to move the needle on racial equality. The actions a brand takes ripples outside of the organization and can even impact society.
“As marketing professionals, we understand that brands build and influence our societies’ cultures,” says Deserrie Perez, a Strategic Marketer and co-lead of Black Inclusion Network at LinkedIn. “I deeply admire brands that have been unapologetically ambitious with their diversity, equality and inclusion efforts.”
Perez finds inspiration in brands like Salesforce, American Express, Blackrock and Microsoft. Says Perez: “These brands have made important strides in hiring diverse storytellers who bring unique and authentic stories about the Black diaspora to life by addressing real issues that impact our communities.”
Black history is more than a moment
Black History Month 2021 gives brands an opportunity to show consumers what they’ve learned following a year of social unrest and protests for racial justice. That posting a statement on social media is the bare minimum and consumers are prepared to hold brands accountable to their words. That supporting the Black community is an ongoing commitment, with the bulk of the work happening offline.
As brands prepare for their February campaigns, remember that Black history is more than a trend. Approach Black History Month with authenticity and action, but also think about how you can uplift Black communities and culture year round.
Ensure your company efforts are genuine and sustainable by prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in all parts of your business operations. Read on to learn how brands can go beyond diversity statements and integrate DEI into their strategies for long-term success.
Is the thought of building a complex website to sell your products and services online intimidating?
For many entrepreneurs, lack of time, limited budget, and minimal technical expertise can get in the way of bringing their ideas to reality.
But creating a fancy website from the ground up — or relying on costly and competitive ecommerce platforms — aren’t the only solutions.
An ecommerce landing page is an easy way to convert followers into customers. Best of all, time, money, and technical expertise are no longer obstacles to creating a fantastic customer experience.
What is an ecommerce landing page?
ECommerce + Landing Page.
Let’s break down these terms.
Ecommerce refers to the buying and selling of products or services online. Transactions occur electronically, but products can be delivered physically or digitally. If you have ever bought anything online, you participated in ecommerce.
Meanwhile, alanding page is a single web page used to drive traffic. Unlike a website’s homepage, a visitor cannot navigate to different web pages. The goal of a landing page is clearly focused on getting a visitor to take one, specific action.
Put them together, and you get a landing page that drives people to purchase from you.
Pretty simple.
But how is an ecommerce landing page different from selling on the behemoth ecommerce sites we’ve all heard of: Amazon, Etsy, and other online marketplaces?
If you’re just starting out, selling on these third-party platforms can be a hassle to set up. Plus, there are costly fees that are hard to justify if this is your first time selling online.
Thankfully, ecommerce landing pages let you manage costs, test your idea in a low-risk setting, limit competition, and better control your ability to upsell, cross sell, and drive referrals.
Inspiring ecommerce landing page examples
No matter what you want to sell, ecommerce landing pages are a valuable tool to support your growth.
Here are how 5 online business owners are using ecommerce landing pages to make money online.
Sell fitness coaching services
Zumba instructor Alycia McFarlin uses an ecommerce landing page to collect payment from her clients. To make it convenient for her clients to pay how they wish, she offers them the options to pay with PayPal, Venmo, or with a Credit Card.
Using an ecommerce landing page, McFarlin can collect payment from clients who choose to pay with a Credit Card right on her landing page.
What’s great about this page?
Effective ecommerce landing pages keep the visitor focused on taking one specific action. This page keeps the visitor focused on making a payment so they can sign up for a Zumba class.
This page is branded with McFarlin’s brand colors, making it easily identifiable among returning customers.
There’s a way for visitors to stay in touch and receive class updates and schedules by signing up for her newsletter.
Expand your services with personalized consulting
Carey Shoemaker, who documents her family’s experience living and working remotely abroad on her site and YouTube channel News from the Shoes, set up an ecommerce landing page to sell consultations to help others interested in full-time travel, social media, and living abroad.
Selling a one-hour consulting call through her landing page allows her to keep visitors focused on the value they receive from booking time with her.
What’s great about this page:
Shoemaker includes a link to this page in her social media profiles. This drives followers who actively want to learn more about her services to this page.
The offer is highly personalized. Each consulting call is unique depending on the purchasers’ interests. This type of personalization means customers receive a fantastic experience.
The landing page copy is clear and concise. It’s immediately clear what value a potential customer will receive for the one-hour consulting call.
Monetize your network
Amanda Tento, Marketing Tech Consultant and founder of The Determined Mom, rallies her followers to sign up for low-cost, but high-impact, networking groups.
These networking groups are set up in virtual meeting rooms that allow participants to move around the room as they would in real life. Plus, they’re scheduled at convenient times that won’t conflict with free time.
Tento saw an opportunity to offer these organized networking events by selling access on an ecommerce landing page which she promotes on her website and social media.
What’s great about this page:
The landing page copy clearly addresses why a visitor should attend. The value is evident, but Tento makes signing up more enticing by running a giveaway for attendees.
The call-to-action (CTA) on the button is enticing and interesting. Unique calls to action like “Save your seat” tend to perform better than generic CTAs like “learn more” or “sign up.”
Eye-catching use of brand colors. Not only does the landing page use The Determined Mom’s brand colors, the buttons stand out from the background, making this a visually appealing page.
Sell your creations for a cause
Chris Vasquez sells personalized pet sketches and donates 80% of the proceeds to the same animal rescue organization he found his own furry friend.
Selling digital products — such as artwork and other designed assets like logos, websites, photography, and more — is a great way to complement consulting services or freelance work.
What’s great about this page:
Visitors get to see an example of a sketch they could receive. This artwork highlight is not only eye-catching, but necessary to convert visitors into buyers.
Consumers want to support brands they believe in. Socially responsible companies that give back to the community are easy to get behind.
Everything fits together: the copy, design, and tone of this page are playful and fun. This voice likely matches that of a customer. Who else would buy a personalized sketch of their cat’s face wearing a chicken hat?
Upsell on a ‘Thank You’ page
Sending your customers to an ecommerce landing pages after purchase is a great way to cross sell your other products.
On this landing page, Rose Bartu, creator of Freedom Through Songwriting, points customers who just purchased her masterclass toward her private podcast feed. This gives them the option to listen to the course while on the go.
What’s great about this page:
This ‘thank you’ page capitalizes on the moment new customers are most engaged with the brand by offering an upsell to a related product.
The page indicates what customers need to do next: check their email to get started with the masterclass.
The page is written in a way that makes customers feel special. The copy “I have a little surprise for you,” evokes a feeling of exclusivity — an effective psychological strategy in marketing to help customers feel valued.
Pro tip: If you have multiple products or services, ‘Thank You’ pages are a great strategy to drive additional sales. People are already aware and engaged with your company after they purchased; if you have something to offer customers at this stage of their journey to get them excited about your brand, now is a great time to do it.
Make your first dollar online today.
When looking for a landing page solution to sell your products or services online, look for software that lets you easily accept payments, market yourself, and grow your email list from one, easy-to-use tool.
Save even more time with professionally designed templates, purchase tagging that lets you automate email campaigns to new customers, and custom domains to generate recognition and credibility.
Ready to sell online today? Learn more about making your first online sale with AWeber Ecommerce.
